Crackdown on copper: threat to wildlife, water

Push is on across California to reduce pollution from the toxic metal

A motor-sweeper operator for the city of San Diego works along Market Street, using a device that helps pick up the copper dust that settles on the ground when drivers apply their brakes.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

A motor-sweeper operator for the city of San Diego works along Market Street, using a device that helps pick up the copper dust that settles on the ground when drivers apply their brakes.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Street-sweeper operator Todd Ethridge makes his way down Broadway in Golden Hill. Picking up copper dust is important to avoid having it wash down storm drains and eventually into creeks and bays.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Street-sweeper operator Todd Ethridge makes his way down Broadway in Golden Hill. Picking up copper dust is important to avoid having it wash down storm drains and eventually into creeks and bays.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Drivers and boaters unwittingly threaten endangered fish — and potentially affect drinking-water deliveries in the long term — every time they hit the brakes or brush paint on boat hulls.

The culprit is copper, which even in microscopic amounts can throw off the navigation system that steers migratory fish home to spawn. The metal also interferes with the sense of smell that important species such as salmon use to avoid predators and find food. In Southern California, copper can harm many kinds of fish, shell fish and other species in the food chain.

Regulators, legislators and port managers across California are trying to tackle copper pollution with more environmentally friendly products, proposed laws and cleanup orders, including some being tested in San Diego County. The changes could end up costing residents more every time they buy brakes or repaint their vessels, but momentum is building to move ahead.

“Copper is toxic. It destroys marine life — plants and animals,” said state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego. “We must take steps to clean it up.”

Kehoe has drafted legislation, Senate Bill 346, that would replace most of the copper in vehicle brake pads.

Automakers and brake manufacturers say Kehoe’s proposal goes too far, too fast because cost-effective alternatives aren’t readily available. The legislation will get its first test before an Assembly committee Tuesday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t taken a stand on the issue.

Washington was the first state to enact legislation to reduce copper in brakes, spurred by the desire to safeguard its salmon fishery. Similar bills are up for consideration in Rhode Island and New York. In Alaska, activists are fighting a mine that they fear will taint the prized wild-salmon waterways of Bristol Bay.

“Fish live in a chemical soup, so it’s crucial to their survival that they interpret the chemicals accurately,” said Carol Ann Woody, who has researched the issue in Alaska. “For fish, their sense of smell is like our vision.”

It isn’t just fish that are affected.

San Diego County and other parts of the state have endured major cuts to their water supply so more could be diverted to help populations of salmon and smelt rebound. If copper-cutting efforts don’t succeed, fishery regulators could demand even more water to boost fish runs.

Copper protects brakes from overheating and controls shuddering when the pedal is applied. Copper dust becomes airborne when drivers use their brakes, and it settles on streets and sidewalks. When rain falls, the particles wash down storm drains and eventually into creeks and bays.

Under Kehoe’s measure, vehicle brakes sold in California couldn’t have more than 0.5 percent copper by 2025. Brakes in passenger cars generally contain 3 percent to 25 percent copper.

Automakers and brake manufacturers prefer the state of Washington’s model, which sets a 5 percent cap by 2021. They want to make sure that the replacement compounds won’t create problems for human and environmental health.

“We don’t want to come up with an alternative that is worse,” said Charles Territo, a spokesman for a coalition of automakers tracking the legislation.